Scripture gives us many examples of people who paid the price. Start with Eve and Adam. Their failure to follow this principle cost them Paradise. It cost Lot's wife her life. It cost Moses his entry into the Promised Land. It cost David his son's life. Yet, the principle has a positive side. When you sow righteousness, you reap wonderful blessings. As Christians, we do not practice our Christianity with ulterior motives, thinking, "Wow, I wonder what my reward will be for doing this good deed?!" Paul would be repulsed by such legalism, and so should we. But he does want us to know that there are wonderful spiritual blessings that come with the life of righteousness. We have all known the joy of helping someone in need, the reward of teaching a small child about God, the satisfaction of being a good mom or dad. Of course, the ultimate "reaping" is eternal life...verse 8.

Doing Good to All...verse 10: There are at least three factors that limit our opportunities to do good. They are: time, resources, and willingness. The first two do not matter if we do not have the third. So, the starting point is willingness. Doing good is a matter of the will. We do not do good accidentally. We do good because we have hearts that are touched by the hurts and suffering of our fellow humans. It is our friend who is having marriage problems, it is our teen who is struggling with their sexuality, it is the aging saint who just lost their mate, it is the person who just lost their job.

Once we have the willingness, we must have time and resources to help those in need. We are a busy people. Too busy. Our busyness is often an obstacle to doing good. We would do well to de-clutter our lives so that we can move past the obstacle of time.

Finally, we need to have the resources to help. This can include material resources and often does. But, there are other resources that are even more meaningful. A timely word of encouragement. A hug. A smile. A helping hand. All of these are readily available to all of us and cost nothing but our time and energy. Here again, we have an application of Galatians 5:14, "Love your neighbor as yourself," the summation of the law.

Because of the Cross,

Mark Pugh

Southern Hills Church of Christ
Mark's e-mail address: mspugh@hotmail.com

top of page    previous page